In Queens, only District 26 fared better, with a mere 14 students failing the third-grade reading comprehension test the city is using as a barometer for advancing students to the fourth grade. These poorly performing students, as well as the 78 who failed in District 25, will now be eligible for the automatic appeals process and summer school. Comment.

Cross Island YMCA will hold a 12-week fitness program designed for those new to exercising or who have not done so in a considerable length of time. The program aims to make participants feel good, get fit, have more energy, and become healthier. The prog

Participants must make the commitment to exercise three days a week for 12 weeks. Strength and flexibility are the main points of the program, along with cardiovascular endurance. These will be achieved through the use of cardiovascular equipment such as treadmills and bikes, resistance training and stretching exercises. Fitness counselors will provide each participant with the personal attention and extra motivation they will need. Comment.

Michael Davis, a stained glass artist and glass blower who operates out of a studio in Long Island City, offers a simple piece of advice to those who have taken glass blowing and working with stained glass as a hobby: This is a tough business with plenty of competition. Comment.

The streets of London will transform the stage of the George M. Seuffert Bandshell in Forest Park at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 1, when Lerner & Loewes legendary My Fair Lady opens there. Presented by Plaza Theatrical Productions, the

Plazas My Fair Lady played to enthusiastic audiences throughout the fall of 2003 and is currently running in parks and schools in Nassau and Suffolk counties. Comment.

ASTORIA  A man was riding a motorcycle northbound on 54th Street Tuesday when he struck two parked cars in front of 31-24 54th St. The victim, Neil Barrett of 20-55 33rd St. in Astoria was removed to Elmhurst Hospital where he was pronounced dead on

A new Malaysian restaurant that recently opened on Prince Streets Oriental Row is Sentosa. It is long and narrow with modern décor with dark-paneled walls highlighted by silver three-dimensional portraits and good luck plants. There is also a dining room on the second floor. The menu is in English complete with a description of the ingredients. Comment.

Uncaring homeowners and speculators are overbuilding in Queens and creating an asphalt jungle like the one in Manhattan. Our city and state governments must correct the laws that permit people to build those McMansions that tower over the original homes in a community and cover the ground with cement. Comment.

Summer officially began June 21. And I must say, it got started with a bang. In my opinion, its the prettiest of the seasons but the weather it brings can sometimes peak at temperatures so unbearable you wish you were an Eskimo trying to keep warm in your igloo in some arctic region of the world. You wouldnt care where, just as long as you werent in that kind of heat. Comment.

I want to thank everyone who prayed, wished me well and sent beautiful get-well cards. But just about everybody wanted to know when I was going to get back to writing my column, To the Point. Well, I... Comment.

As predicted, the hot, hazy days of summer have begun, and the geraniums are all wearing smiles of appreciation as they languish in their pots well decked out in their red, pink or white finery. In retrospect, those cool, damp days werent quite that bad, after all. I guess its true that no one is ever satisfied with the weather, whatever it might happen to be. Comment.

"I go to Rikers Island - I'm an African American - and all I see is young black men," Marshall said during an interview with the TimesLedger Newspapers at her Borough Hall office last Thursday. "Justice needs to be investigated also." Comment.

After his arrest, Mohammed Junaid Babar pleaded guilty to providing support to terrorist groups during a sealed court proceeding, The New York Times reported Friday. A conviction can carry a prison term of 30 years to life, according to a terrorism law passed after the 1996 Oklahoma City bombing. Comment.

Children with failing scores may be held back this year under a new policy enacted by Schools Chancellor Joel Klein to end social promotion. Parents should be notified by the end of the week if their child is included in that group. Comment.

His Major League Soccer career had consisted of 16 minutes to that point, but on Saturday former St. Johns goalkeeper Dan Popik was thrust into action after Los Angeles Galaxy starting keeper Kevin Hartman left the game at half-time with a deep thigh bruise. Comment.

The Assembly and Senate ended their session Tuesday night without taking any action on a $400 tax rebate program for homeowners in New York City, which is central to the mayor's budget plan. The Legislature may reconvene in mid-July. Comment.

Mayor Bloomberg and Emmy-nominated actress Melina Kanakaredis were in the 30th Avenue park for a brief ceremony in which musicians, dancers and a jubilant crowd waving tiny Greek flags welcomed the flame during the latest leg of its 78,000-mile odyssey around the globe. Comment.

"Some outstanding police work has resulted in the biggest drug bust in two years," Bloomberg said during a Manhattan press conference, noting that 10 plainclothes officers from Queens North Narcotics Bureau seized 459 kilograms of cocaine worth an estimated $75 million. Comment.

"They turned the funding process on homeland security into a pork pull," said U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) in a Monday phone interview with the TimesLedger. "They decided there was a whole barrel of money to try to spread out to as many people to get money back into districts regardless of threat." Comment.

Planners have been at work since January, trying to raise public awareness on the project that would require businesses to pay a yearly assessment based on their overall frontage and assessed value, Chamber President Gerry Lederman said during a meeting last month. Comment.

Armed with $3 million in federal grants, the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development plans to treat some 200 apartments - 90 of them in Astoria, which the city has designated as a high-risk neighborhood, said Thomas O'Hagan, lead grant director for the agency. Comment.

EAST ELMHURST  A 17-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl were taken to Elmhurst Hospital in serious but stable condition Friday after being hit by gunfire from a man who shot at someone he was arguing with near 102nd Street and 32nd Avenue, police sai

The boy was shot in the torso and the girl in the hand, police said. The victims, both apparently innocent bystanders, were not identified, and as of Tuesday no arrests had been made in the ongoing investigation, police said. Comment.

Twin sisters Natalie and Nicole Albino, 18, who grew up in Marine Terrace, spent five years trying to break into the music business before their independently produced hit caught the attention of Universal Records this spring. Comment.

About 240 students in Jamaica's District 28 are facing the same fate. That district came in with the fourth-highest number of failing students, according to statistics reported by the Department of Education. Comment.

The board is still months away from voting on either proposal, but city Department of Health officials and representatives from Queens Hospital Center and the AIDS Center of Queens County called the issue a crisis for the Jamaica area. There are more than 1,700 people living with HIV in Jamaica and 201 people were newly diagnosed with the disease in 2002, said Dr. Marjorie Hill, assistant commissioner for HIV/AIDS for the Health Department. Comment.

When Principal Brian O'Connell took the microphone before elementary students, their parents and teachers June 11, he had a surprise for everyone: Todes, a fifth-grade teacher, was this year's recipient of the 2003-2004 Teacher of the Year Award, sponsored by the Teachers' Insurance Plan. Comment.

"It's a problem," she said Saturday through a translator after stopping by a neighborhood event designed to raise awareness about obesity in the Hispanic population. "We come from different countries. We are a poor people and we have a lot of problems. We eat more than we should." Comment.

Children with failing scores may be held back this year under a new policy enacted by Schools Chancellor Joel Klein to end social promotion. Parents should be notified by the end of the week if their child is included in that group. Comment.

The Beaux Arts bank building on Jamaica Avenue, another on Jamaica Avenue and apartment buildings on Farmers Boulevard were slated to be purchased, although information on the potential buyer or price was unavailable, said a representative for Solomon Good and Company, a Manhattan-based firm that sells foreclosed properties. Comment.

Twenty veterans from southern Queens who fought in World War II or the Korean War were presented with diplomas from John Adams and Far Rockaway high schools Friday at a special graduation ceremony organized by state Assemblywoman Michele Titus (D-Far Rockaway). Comment.

The march, along Merrick Boulevard from IS 59 in Springfield Gardens to PS 270 in Laurelton, celebrates the diversity of the district, with Ukrainian, Caribbean and African dress all represented this year. At PS 95 in Jamaica alone, more than 235 dialects are spoken, a music teacher from the school said. Comment.

By law members of the state Commission on Judicial Conduct cannot comment on whether or not a probe is under way, but the unions confirmed Monday that a court officer and a detective involved in the case were to appear before the commission on Tuesday. Comment.

Residents and passersby were invited into the store, which was to officially open to the public Wednesday, to sample free cookies and coffee from the cafe and browse the shelves with the sounds of violin duets of La Belle Musique playing in the background. Comment.

The lapse occurred over several weeks in April and May, during which time 177 patients received endoscopies. They were asked to come in for blood tests for the viruses, and as of Monday 120 had done so, with initial test results all negative, Lynam said. Because a virus infection might not show up immediately, the patients have been asked to come back for checkups in six months. Comment.

Guy Velella, a 59-year-old Bronx Republican state senator who spent almost 30 years in the state Legislature, was sentenced to a year in jail after he pleaded to a fourth-degree felony charge of conspiracy. Comment.